Sofar you have been viewing the Badlands from the high plateau.
It is now time to make our way down and into the rugged terrain to get a totally different view. As we hike in, we make sure we have water with us, are wearing a hat and have lathered ourselves with sunscreen.
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On-going rains, freezes and thaws have revealed millions of years of sediment that paint a colorful landscape on the prairies of southwestern South Dakota.

When the Lakota first encountered the striking, moon-like landscape, they aptly called the area “Mako Sica” or “bad land.” Early French trappers also described the area as “bad land” after difficult travels over the rugged terrain

Badlands National Park contains the world's richest deposits of fossils from the Oligocene epoch. Paleontologists have uncovered the remains of ancient three-toed horses, tiny deer-like creatures, turtles, a saber-toothed cat and other prehistoric animals.